Deputy in Andy Lopez shooting to resume duty next week

[FreakinDJ]

Source: Paul Payne

A Sonoma County sheriff's deputy who shot and killed a 13-year-old Santa Rosa boy after mistaking a BB gun he was carrying for an assault rifle will return to duty next week, a sheriff's spokesman said Friday.

Dep. Erick Gelhaus has been on leave since the Oct. 22 shooting of Andy Lopez. Gelhaus underwent mental health screening and will come back to work in an administrative capacity, said Assistant Sheriff Lorenzo Duenas.

He will remain on the desk assignment until District Attorney Jill Ravitch reviews an investigative report and makes a finding about whether he committed criminal wrongdoing, Duenas said.




Read more: http://latinotimes.com/latinos/946850-deputy-in-andy-lopez-shooting-to-resume-duty-next-week.html

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Get this - Gelhaus is returning to duty so he can testify IN DEFENSE of an illegal firearm

Macfarlane contends he didn't know his Kel-Tec SU-16CA was on a list of weapons that are banned in California. He wants Gelhaus to testify because he said Gelhaus looked at the gun and couldn't determine if it was legal.

[Shemp Howard]

1. This is so wrong

Even if the boy had been carrying a real gun, that would have been no excuse to shoot him.

If this cop is let off, then anyone can be shot down. Because from a distance, a broom stick might look like a gun. So would a metal rod. So would a cane being held horizontally.

And for what it is worth, my conservative and progressive friends all agree (for once). This cop's actions were appalling. He should be in prison.

[awoke_in_2003]

2. A slight correction...

anyone who isn't white can be shot down, given a month and a half vacation, then come back to desk duty.

[Shemp Howard]

3. Race is not so much a factor in shootings anymore

When it comes to a cop pulling over a car, hassling pedestrians, etc. race is still a big factor.

But that's not so true when it comes to cops shooting civilians. No one is exempt.

Police forces 20 years ago could be described as racist organizations.

Cops today are better described as paramilitary forces. They act like they are occupying an enemy country. And that is true EVERYWHERE, from the inner cities to the expensive big-house suburbs. Any difference is just a matter of degree.

The Officer Friendly / Sheriff Andy Taylor types are pretty much all gone from every locality.

Today, cops answer a suspected weapons call. Confused person doesn't surrender fast enough. Person is shot, black or white.

Cops break into a house at midnight. Sleepy owner doesn't surrender fast enough. Owner is shot, black or white.

"Serve and protect" has become "It's against ALL of them."

[FreakinDJ]

4. Not True

Was looking at the police chief's website earlier today and even in "Double Blind Studies" cops and civilians alike are 27% more likely to pull the trigger on an unarmed Black person then a White person

[Shemp Howard]

6. I think you're making a mistake here.

I see your point about the 27%. That is not an insignificant number.

But IMHO it's a mistake to approach shootings like this from a primarily racial angle. Police need more racial awareness training. But they need much more training on when NOT to fire their weapon.

We don't need equal numbers of blacks and whites being shot by cops. We need less people, period, being shot by cops.

[FreakinDJ]

7. You would need to ask the Supreme court for Relief from their 1989 decision

and yes the Police Officers Unions have bastardized the interpretation to be what it is today

Another example is the use of deadly force. Research is constantly expanding our understanding of the dynamics of officer involved shootings (OIS). Concepts of reaction time, perception, suspect abilities to deliver deadly force and the less than lethal options available to LEOs create a specialized body of knowledge no less complex than the Federal Rules of Evidence or Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

Citizen review panels have been put in place in jurisdictions around the United States. Fortunately, they are present in comparatively few areas. Although many are established with the best of intentions, and many serve with an eye toward public service, the existence of such entities is troubling at best. In many, if not most of these citizen review panels, citizens who are unskilled in the techniques, standards and practices in law enforcement are asked to pass judgment on the actions of LEOs. Based upon the nature of the matters they review, the problem is compounded by the fact that they insert themselves into the most critical decisions made by LEOs; those made to stay alive during an OIS.

http://lawenforcementtoday.com/tag/use-of-deadly-force/

[SheilaT]

5. In Newm Mexico. on the other hand,

the state police officer who merely shot at a minivan in a traffic stop was fired. No one was hurt in that incident, but the officer lost his job nonetheless.

Some departments do the right thing.

[valerief]

8. Admin duty? You mean he won't be allowed to shoot and kill more little kids?

That's like keeping a cop in a cage. They live to shoot and kill people. They used to live to serve people, but now they're just trained to kill. Like soldiers. Because we, the public, are clearly the enemy.